Team collaboration › Common situations
The hard conversations aren't happening
Everyone knows what needs saying. Nobody's saying it, or it's being said in the corridor after the meeting. The cost builds quietly until something gives.
What's often going on
- The real conversation happens afterwards, in twos and threes. That's The Corridor Conversation.
- People avoid the conversation to keep the peace, and the peace gets thinner.
- When it does happen, it goes badly, which makes the next one harder.
What helps
- Finding out where tension starts in the team, and what the team does next
- Practising the conversation on real situations, hands-on
- Agreeing how the team will disagree, before the next one comes up
For this one, we'd usually start with the Difficult Conversations Pulse Check, then a 30-minute chat about what it shows.
Take the Difficult Conversations Pulse Check Talk to us about a teamQuestions
Is this conflict resolution?
Partly. It's mostly about having the conversation well, early, before it needs resolving.
What if it's one person?
It's rarely only one person. We look at the pattern the whole team is in.
Other situations we've worked with:
My team won't speak upDecisions keep getting reopenedI've inherited a teamWe've got our engagement survey results. Now what?A change is on its wayAI is arriving faster than our habitsA new or restructured teamDifferences are pulling the team apartOur leadership team isn't pulling togetherWe want stronger safety leadership
My team won't speak upDecisions keep getting reopenedI've inherited a teamWe've got our engagement survey results. Now what?A change is on its wayAI is arriving faster than our habitsA new or restructured teamDifferences are pulling the team apartOur leadership team isn't pulling togetherWe want stronger safety leadership